It’s time to get creative. I’ve got the best play ideas for magnetic tiles!
If you are like me, you may have your magnetic tiles in a giant storage bin that you take on every road trip. At home, or on the go, these magnetic tiles are like little pieces of playing magic. Here, play ideas for magnetic tiles are always a win.
Most of the time, my boys are off constructing what suits them at the moment.
Other times, we try and think of new fun and creative ways to play together.
This magnetic tiles roundup is sure to offer you new ways to play!
RELATED: 50+ Play Ideas for Kids is packed with play ideas!
Why are magnetic tiles essential for play?
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Miriam Beloglovsky, author of Loose Parts: Inspiring Play in Young Children, offers the following pieces of information to help us better understand the importance.
- Problem Solving and Creativity: When children spend time connecting and disconnecting objects, they are developing problem-solving skills and coming up with creative solutions to attach items together.
- Association and Cause and Effect: When children work to connect loose parts, they learn about the association between cause and effect.
- Cultivate Curiosity: Children’s curiosity grows when provocations that involve discovery, exploration, asking questions, testing theories, making plans, and thinking deeply are included with the environment.
The power of play leads to some essential problem-solving and small hand movements with magnetic tiles help improve pencil grip.
You can even dive deeper into play with this Inspiring Questions to Extend Thinking post by Magna-Tiles.
RELATED: Learn how we built our DIY magnetic wall!
These are our two favorite brands for magnetic tiles:
18+ creative play ideas for magnetic tiles!
Indoor Bowling
Magnetic Tiles Indoor Bowling Activity: We started with the tiles lined up like pins and the simple prompt:
How many pins do you think you can knock down?
This, of course, led to a scorecard and a plethora of new builds to try and knockdown. And I’m here for it.
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We’ve played Magnetic Bowling multiple times and each time gives me a solid 25-40 minutes of trial and error from them as I vocally participate on the sidelines with phrases like:
Ooh, that was a close one! How many did you knock down that time? You almost reached your goal of 8 tiles at one time!
If it is raining near you, or you are stuck inside as the rest of the nation buys our toilet paper from Costco, it’s a great way to turn “we’ve been inside too long and getting on each other’s personal space” to ”what can we build as a team that will withstand the momentum of the ball?” Can I get a whoop whoop for physics here?!
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Grab the magnetic tiles and get bowling! It could be what you need on a rainy afternoon. These activities are a great match with our hands-on activities for BIG KIDS!
Magnetic Shape Match
This magnetic tile play is excellent for Breakfast Invitations. I know that if I spent two minutes the night before, I’d be planting the seed for independent play.
Here, you can begin the conversation on how many sides make up each shape and that a is in fact called a rhombus.
Setups such as this help expose your child to bigger concepts that will be introduced down the road. That way, when they hear the diamond being called a rhombus in Kindergarten, they can say, “oh, I remember this! ”.
Magnetic Measurement
This magnetic measurement game is a blast!
Measurement is the foundation of making comparisons. Preschoolers can practice measurement by finding things that are faster/slower, taller/shorter, bigger/smaller, lighter/heavier.
The more we measure now, the more we are able to prepare our preschoolers for collecting data and finding relationships and comparisons down the road. Which is kind of a big deal?
Using magnetic tiles to measure is a great place to start!
Magnetic Shape and Color Match
This fun play idea for toddler begins to help introduce shapes. Here, my toddler matched the colored triangle with the color on the refrigerator.
Find the complete write up on Magnetic Shape and Color Match HERE.
Magnetic Name Build
Build and connect the letters in your name using magnetic tiles and Post-It notes.
You can find this activity on our newest pack of activity cards HERE.
Light Table Magnetic Play
Using magnetic tiles on the light table is a great way to explore light and promote creative play.
Primary Color Exploration
This primary color exploration using magnetic tiles is a blast!
We played this magnetic tile game years ago and continue to explore years later making new color combinations.
But that’s not all!
Here are some of my other favorite ideas and ways to play with magnetic tiles!
- Cathedrals in the Clouds – Munchkins and Moms
- Geometry Magnetic Tiles – Go Science Kids
- Magnetic Sensory Bottles – No Time for Flashcards
- Magnetic Tile Dominoes – Raising Dragons
- Magnetic Tile Railing – Find the Little in Me
- Magnetic Tiles and Glow Sticks – Fun-A-Day
- Magnetic Tiles and Jingle Bells – And Next Comes L
- Measuring Height – Go Science Kids
- Mix and Match Creatures – And Next Comes L
- Shape Puzzles – Happily Ever Mom
- Stained Glass – Happily Ever Mom
